Ever since the initial announcement back in 2006, by Thomas Thull, the WARCRAFT movie has been an essential part of BlizzCon (one way or another) where fans expect with a sliver of hope any crumb of info about it’s development.

It’s when Duncan Jones took the reins of development that fans got more than crumbs. The man loves Twitter, and every now and then you would hear something about the movie. Then San Diego Comic Con and BlizzCon would drop massive info and trailers.

The wait was over, and the Warcraft Movie hit theaters on June 10, 2016 (USA).

You can watch it now online as an HD Digital movie streamed to your PC/Mac browser, and devices; or as a Blu-Ray/DVD (with extended scenes).

It is a fact. Tangible. Yeah! A dream come true. The Warcraft movie is not perfect, and it didn’t follow canon the way die-hard lore fans may have wished, but it delivered.

However, the Warcraft movie didn’t end with a final conclusion. There was no wrap up: aka the destruction of Stormwind. Take in mind the movie was based on the first MS-DOS Warcraft video game — WARCRAFT: ORCS AND HUMANS (1994), and borrowed elements from WARCRAFT: THE LAST GUARDIAN (2001).

The movie ended with cliffhangers:

1. Instead of the destruction of Stormwind, two things happen after Lothar brings back the corpse of King Llane for a funeral:

Queen Taria says: “There is no greater blessing a city can have than a king who would sacrifice himself for his people. But such a sacrifice must be earned. We must deserve it. If we only show our unity to mourn a good man’s death, was King Llane wrong to believe in you?” — the dwarves and high elves declined Llane’s invitation to rally forces to destroy the Dark Portal. He died for it without their assistance, and Queen Taria’s words hit home in the heart and mind of both allies. A rally to unite for a common threat.

The citizens responded: “No!” “We will avenge you, my lady!” “Lead us against the orcs, Lothar!” By wielding Llane’s sword, Lothar is basically proclaimed successor to the throne of Stormwind, ending with the words: “For Azeroth and the Alliance!”

2. The second cliffhanger happens after the funeral scene. The moses carrying baby Go’el is retrieved from the river by a servant of Lord Aedelas Blackmoore. This is a queue for a later sequel that highlights the events of WARCRAFT: LORD OF THE CLANS by Christie Golden.

However, there are two things right there that make no sense. You can’t make a WARCRAFT II sequel focused on a grown Thrall without destroying Stormwind first and leading Lothar to sail his people to Lordaeron. Or skipping the events of the Second War seen in Aaron Rosenberg’s WORLD OF WARCRAFT: TIDES OF DARKNESS — which covers the orc invasion upon Khaz Modan and Lordaeron, Zul’jin and the Amani, and Naval warfare. We can’t have a sequel without introducing Turalyon, Alleria, Kurdran, and Danath. Without Lothar and Doomhammer facing each other in a Mak’gora (duel). All this stuff happens long before Thrall’s days as a gladiator in Durnholde Keep.

Thus, Duncan Jones laid out a roadmap of sequels with these cliffhangers.

Now… it’s difficult to say what Blizzard, Legendary and Duncan might plan to bring to the big screen, and what they decide not to bring to the big screen.

Warcraft Animated Series & TV Series

During BlizzCon 2013, Rob Pardo and Duncan Jones said the following: “If Duncan does the job I know he is going to do, then maybe more studios will be knocking our doors to do TV shows. (Rob)” “It goes back to that point where the number of stories that you guys have available to work with. We get this right, and we are going to do everything to make sure it turns out well that you can go anywhere with this. You can start going anywhere. (Duncan)”

There is a possibility that some of the stories we know and love might come in different formats outside the big screen. There might be one day something akin to the Games of Thrones TV Series (and let me tell you, Games of Thrones is coming to an end soon with Season 8) leaving a vacuum in the genre for WARCRAFT to step in.

WARCRAFT could also come in the shape of an Animated Series for Netflix and Hulu. That is more tangible than you think, and less abstract with the November 2015 launch of a television and film studio department dubbed Activision Blizzard Studios. In fact, there is already a SKYLANDERS ACADEMY Animated Series coming to Netflix on Fall 2016. Basically, Blizzard Entertainment has that platform already on its grasp to launch Animated Series based on Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo; and it is not far-fetched to consider the possibility of a Season One (13-episodes) Netflix Warcraft series by Activision Blizzard Studios. Some similar and recent projects come to mind: Daredevil, Stranger Things, Marco Polo, etc.

WARCRAFT Movie Sequel Announcement

In terms of when Duncan Jones might announce the sequel to WARCRAFT, we should first extrapolate from past experiences with other popular films.

THE AVENGERS by Joss Whedon originally launched in the United States on May 4, 2012. The sequel (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON) was announced on July 20th, 2013 (roughly 14 months after the first movie). Age of Ultron then launched in the United States on May 1, 2015. Three years after the original movie.

Another example, IRON MAN launched in the United States on May 2, 2008. However, it only took Marvel 5 months (Oct) to announce development of the sequel IRON MAN 2. The sequel launched on May 7, 2010.

It would be lovely to have Duncan Jones announce the sequel at BlizzCon 2016, this November, but chances are that if a sequel becomes reality it might be announced somewhere around SDCC 2017 – BlizzCon 2017 with a realistic possible launch date around May 2019.

Links of Interest

Medievaldragon

Tomas Hernandez is owner of Blizzplanet.com since 2003. I post news about World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Careers, and the Warcraft film.
Blizzplanet is a leading fansite covering news about upcoming Blizzard Entertainment licensed products. I also post previews and reviews. I have interviewed book writers and Blizzard game developers.
I was previously an employee of the OGaming Network (2003), and IncGamers (2008-2010). I was a guest newsposter for GosuGamers (World of Warcraft) a few years ago and for Diablofans.com (formerly Diablo3.com)
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